The first round of the FIBA EuroBasket tournament finished Monday, with the 24 original entrants being pared down to 12 after playing five games in their six-team round-robin tournament. There were some big surprises, but most of the countries expected to do well held their own through the first portion of the three-week tournament.
Italy was the only team that went undefeated, finishing Group D with a 5-0 record. Marco Belinelli's Italian squad was threatened by Sweden in the final game of round-robin play, but they pulled out an 82-79 win to earn the top seed for the second round-robin portion of the tournament.
Standings by group are included below, with the top three advancing into the next stage of round-robin play and the bottom three each being eliminated.
Group A
Teams | GP | W-L | Pts For | Pts Against | Diff |
France | 5 | 4-1 | 403 | 344 | 59 |
Ukraine | 5 | 4-1 | 378 | 352 | 26 |
Belgium | 5 | 2-3 | 344 | 371 | -27 |
Germany | 5 | 2-3 | 390 | 396 | -6 |
Great Britain | 5 | 2-3 | 360 | 396 | -36 |
Israel | 5 | 1-4 | 364 | 380 | -16 |
Group B
Teams | GP | W-L | Pts For | Pts Against | Diff |
Lithuania | 5 | 3-2 | 347 | 337 | 10 |
Latvia | 5 | 3-2 | 365 | 360 | 5 |
Serbia | 5 | 3-2 | 371 | 366 | 5 |
Bosnia | 5 | 3-2 | 358 | 359 | -1 |
Montenegro | 5 | 2-3 | 376 | 382 | -6 |
Macedonia | 5 | 1-4 | 356 | 369 | -13 |
Group C
Teams | GP | W-L | Pts For | Pts Against | Diff |
Spain | 5 | 4-1 | 369 | 269 | 100 |
Croatia | 5 | 4-1 | 337 | 341 | -4 |
Slovenia | 5 | 3-2 | 347 | 344 | 3 |
Czech Republic | 5 | 2-3 | 316 | 339 | -23 |
Georgia | 5 | 1-4 | 366 | 394 | -28 |
Poland | 5 | 1-4 | 329 | 377 | -48 |
Group D
Teams | GP | W-L | Pts For | Pts Against | Diff |
Italy | 5 | 5-0 | 391 | 339 | 52 |
Finland | 5 | 4-1 | 358 | 337 | 21 |
Greece | 5 | 3-2 | 392 | 350 | 42 |
Russia | 5 | 1-4 | 374 | 400 | -26 |
Turkey | 5 | 1-4 | 355 | 398 | -43 |
Sweden | 5 | 1-4 | 345 | 391 | -46 |
Note that Belgium, led by a slew of consistent scorers unfamiliar to fans of North American basketball, advanced over Bosnia & Herzegovenia despite having a worse record. Belgium advanced in Group A because of head-to-head record; its two wins were over Germany and Great Britain, who also finished 2-3. Bosnia, meanwhile, was ousted in Group B due to the point differential tiebreaker that saw Serbia, Latvia and Lithuania move on from their group.
The second round of round-robin play will feature the top three teams from Group A and B being combined into a Group E while the advancers from Groups C and D will make up Group F. Group E includes France, Serbia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia and Belgium, whereas Group F will feature Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Finland, Croatia and Greece.
The top four finishers in each group will advance to an eight-team tournament that begins next Wednesday to crown the 2013 EuroBasket champion. The top six teams that are not Spain (the host nation) will advance to the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
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